FBI Launches First iPhone App. "Child ID" lets parents store details that they'd need to share with the authorities if their child ever went missing. The free app files away photographs and identifying information and comes with a checklist of tips for the first hours after a child is lost. The FBI has no access to this information until parents choose to share it with them. The app is only available for the iPhone, but is being developed for other mobile devices too. —NS

Apple Goes To War, Legally, Against Fake Apple Stores. Apple, among numerous moves to protect its IP at the moment, has filed suit in New York to shutter "fake" Apple stores that try to capture some of the look and feel of the real stores, but aren't necessarily approved resellers. The absolute details aren't known because the case is sealed...but Apple's likely to have been partly motivated by the recent media fuss about clone Apple Stores in China: The new targets are in the U.S. —KE

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Observer has found something incredible on Mars: Proof that at certain times of year, in certain warmer parts of Mars, briny water actually flows across the ground for short lengths, leaving brown marks behind. Rivers on Mars—a theory that may influence where we look for life signs.

Rdio Beats Spotify To iPad App. Spotify may have everyone excited about its new entry to the U.S. streaming music market, but competitor Rdio has pulled off a neat coup—it's beaten Spotify, and a number of peers, to having its first iPad app approved. Sure Rdio was accessible via a web interface on the iPad before, but having a dedicated app allows it to deliver more functionality to the end user, and the fact the app is present on a tablet's homescreen is a big draw to using it more. How long before Spotify reacts?—KE

Intel Banks On The Cloud. Sensing that cloud computing and cloud storage may be the next big thing, Intel's just forked over $30 million—no small change—to fund two new research labs at Carnegie Mellon University. The intention is to innovate new cloud computing technology, look at the dynamics of mass data transport and how real-time info can be streamed to remote users. As an example, the research could be aimed at a wearable everyday device that gives you real-time info on what you're looking at or seeing...something that AR companies will go ga-ga over. —KE

U.S. ISP's Hijacking Search Query. A new class action suit is alleging that one particular ISP is partnering with a company called Paxfire to hijack its users' web connections when they try to search for something—redirecting their query to a new search source and possibly tracking the queries in the hope of monetizing the data somehow. By typing "apple" into this system, for example, you're diverted through some portals and to Apple's web store instead of being taken to a page of search results. The suit alleges this trick is illegal, and hints that it may be happening elsewhere in the U.S. —KE

HP Cutting TouchPad Price. HP has just snipped a generous $100 off the price of its TouchPad tablet—the flagship device for the WebOS system it bought from Palm—making the entry level cost just $399.99. That's a lot cheaper than what Apple's entry-level iPad costs, and there can really only be one reason for HP's move: It's simply not selling enough TouchPads to satisfy its expectations. Given how tightly Apple controls the supply chain for its devices, it can really control costs—but HP likely can't match that, so the $100 will really hurt its margin. —KE